SOCCER in the USG

Our friend Andy Losee decided to put together a soccer team at the last second and asked me if I wanted to play. I was actually excited to play. It had been awhile since I'd played (probably last year at the Summer Games) but we ended up doing fairly well. We took bronze in the intermediate division. So....not too shabby. I'll tell you what though, I am getting old. I have never been so sore in my life. Even after my half marathon I didn't feel this sore. I don't know if soccer is just using completely different muscles than running does, but I am struggling just lifting my legs. Not to mentioned a pulled tendon in my ankle, a huge bump of a bruise on my shin, and about 4 other huge bruises :) Still love it though.

Andy, Me, Andy's brother Ammon, Tom, and Andy's cousin Kiley.

I can't wait for next year. Hopefully Cordelle's knee will feel better and Neal might even be down here. I miss playing with them.

Yankee Medows Fishing

This last Monday, we realized that the fishing liscence we bought a year ago was going to expire in 3 weeks, so we decided to load up the kids and go a few more times before it did. We drove up to Yankee Medows about 35 minutes away and it was a beautiful sight. It felt good being up in the mountains and just enjoying the view. It was almost dusk so in the shade it was actually starting to get really cold, so I had to take a whiny Jaq away from the fish and an irritated father before she scared all the fish away. So we decided to go for a walk where the sun was still shining. Seth braved out the cold and stayed with his dad. And despite seeing TONZ of fish, we caught nothing. Maybe next time.

Sometimes I think fishing is a lot more work than its worth. And kids have a really hard time being quiet and not throwing rocks and watching them ripple in the water. I guess its good for the memories and for us to get out and to see how funny dad acts when he's frustrated that the fishing line gets all tangled up :)

Jaq making faces for the camera.

USG opening ceremonies

Every year we go through this battle to watch fireworks. What gives right? Most kids would love to stay up late and see fireworks. Seth is terrified of them still. But every year we go, we are right next to where they shoot them off and behind us is this huge brick building where the firewords echo really loud. So needless to say, Seth simply has bad memories of fireworks. So this year, we ditched our friends and went up on the hill in Cedar City and opened up our trunk and cuddled in the back. And would you know, being a little further away, Seth finally enjoyed the show! It was worth taking him further away. And we actually had a great view. It might have to be a new tradition.

STRAWBERRIES

Okay I know these kind of look like raspberries, but they are actually very small and delicious strawberries. Our strawberry plants in our front yard have exploded this year and we go out and pick a bowl full of yummy strawberries every day. The kids LOVE finding them and they make the coolest ground cover out front. Now if I could only get my raspberries to grow.

I love these kids!

Seth and Jaq have become the best of friends. Seriously. They play with each other all day long. I sometimes feel bad that I don't invite more friends over for Seth to play with but really he and Jaquelle get along so well that I don't really need to. They are so cute together. My favorite things are listening to Seth explain every day things or words to Jaquelle and her just eating it all up. Jaq is imagining and adding her side of play right along with Seth. They really are so entertaining just to watch together.

Check out this shiner

While we were gone Seth was playing Tball with a neighbor kid in our backyard. Seth told me later that he had to ask him a question and decided to do so right when the kid swung the solid t-ball bat and smacked Seth right in the eye. Poor kid. We skyped them from AZ the night it happened and he just seemed so sad. But the next day when we came home he was just fine, just had a pretty good shiner from it for about a week.This picture makes him looked drugged too, but I think it was just my flash that made him close his eyes half way.

LG Conference 2011

Every year Cordelle and his department go to the annual Leavitt Group Managers Conference. Their job is mostly to document the whole trip (pictures, video) and then of course make sure all the insurance companies are recognized for all that they sponsor. Anyways lots of work for them but for me.....I just get to play. :) This year we went back to the Kierland Resort in Scottsdale, AZ. We drove down on Tuesday with the Mike and Holly Kelly. Which by the way I am way bummed I didn't get any pictures of. Sometimes I am lame at documenting my trips. Anyways, it was SO fun hanging out with them all week. They made our 8 hour drive SO much more fun than it would of been with just Cordelle and I...no offense Cordelle. But its because of the Kelly's I have a new favorite game: "Would you rather?" (But thats for a whole other post!) They really are such a fun couple, I'm glad they were there and that I could hang out with Holly while our husbands worked (geesh) on "our" vacation. :) I spent a lot of time reading and lounging by the pool and cruising in the lazy river. I almost felt guilty for how lazy I was being but luckily my mom was at home with the kids and they were having all sorts of fun going to parks, the lake, McDonalds (which my kids were enthusiastically introduced to....yes introduced. What? I'm not really a fast food person. And really the thought of MC'D's food even for my kids makes me feel icky, so why would I take them? Shrug.) Anyways, so yes, I napped whenever I pleased, hung out with Cordelle when he did get a little free time, played tennis, went out to eat A LOT (well except for the gourmet meals they fed us at the hotel...but I didn't care for this food half as much as this tasty little Italian restaraunt we found.....sigh.) It was really a lot of fun....and hey the best part of it was, LG pays for everything! The old adage is true, you can't beat free.

I really should have taken more pictures, but there was this huge stair case at the hotel that overlooked the golf course and a small lake. At night they'd light this fire and people would roast marshmallows down there. I really should have taken more pictures because this place is really pretty.

Us at the pool. Its always weird to see pictures of yourself in bathing suits. (Its even weirder to say bathing suits instead of swimming suits). Again I should've documented the lazy river, water falls and vast "coolness" of this pool area.

Ahh the portraits. Okay explanation. So for a great deal of the time Cordelle is taking people's portraits for a conference year book that they put together. So they need nice professional head shots of people. Well in order to get the lighting just right Cordelle has to take quite a few pictures with different settings and so needless to say we have a lot of pictures of each other while he messes with his light and camera settings. (But isn't he a hunk?)

...don't do it....keep looking tough...don't smile....

Sorry fuzzy. On the deck after dinner one night in front of that fire that I previously mentioned.

In front of the waterfall stair case.

"No, you're the man!"

I'm not even sure who took this picture...cause obviously I'm helping Cordelle with pictures after dinner one night. Must have been someone from our table.

At dinner Wednesday night.

Okay, Melanie (Cordelle's boss) was snapping this one, and she was trying to make it candid, but lets be honest by the look on my face, I clearly knew she was taking it.

So much fun to get a break here and there! Thank you Mom for coming down and watching the kids all week. They LOVED it. I come back and Jaq's singing Good Night Jackie and Seth's playing that knuckle song on the piano, telling me all about their adventures with Granny. I love you. It seriously just puts your mind at ease to know your kids are with your own mom when you have to leave them. And then of course thank you Melissa and Ryan for taking the kids here and there when my mom had to leave early. We couldn't do anything without good friends.

Tawna's Birthday

Krista and Tawna

Lisa and I

As always, a few friends and I go out for to Applebee's for birthday desserts. This time it was Tawna's birthday! Happy Birthday!!

Seth's Tball

This year we decided to put Seth in Tball. Who knows right? His friend Wyatt was doing it and we (the moms) thought it would be fun to have someone to chat with during the games, so we signed them up together. ;) Anyways turns out Seth loves it! Maybe because its a little less intense, or crowded or less interactive than soccer was. Anyways, he thinks it is the greatest thing. And to tell you the truth, its pretty laid back so that makes it nice for me too. Seth dances and makes funny faces at us in the out field but loves it when he's actually paying attention and the ball comes to him. He's got a pretty good throw but loves to bat. We're working on catching.... Anyhow, here's some pics we snapped of him.
This year we decided to put Seth in Tball. Who knows right? His friend Wyatt was doing it and we (the moms) thought it would be fun to have someone to chat with during the games, so we signed them up together. ;) Anyways turns out Seth loves it! Maybe because its a little less intense, or crowded or less interactive than soccer was. Anyways, he thinks it is the greatest thing. And to tell you the truth, its pretty laid back so that makes it nice for me too. Seth dances and makes funny faces at us in the out field but loves it when he's actually paying attention and the ball comes to him. He's got a pretty good throw but loves to bat. We're working on catching.... Anyhow, here's some pics we snapped of him.

Of course Jaq loves Tball too. Basically it means that she can run around with Madi and puppy dog eye the mom's who bring treats at the end of the game until she scores one as well.

Neal's Wedding continued....the reception

This was like the prettiest church wedding I've ever been to. I just had to snap some pictures. They had this canopy thing that covered the ceiling and camedown the middle surrounded by candy. It was really beautiful.
It was a great night! I'm so excited for these guys!